Head of Indonesian football team: 'I came to intervene but was beaten'

"Actually, I rushed in to dissuade everyone but was beaten. The injury was not serious, this is part of the game," Sumardji was quoted as saying by Antara News.

At the beginning of the first extra time, the match at the Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh on the evening of May 16, Irfan Jauhari scored to raise the score to 3-2 for Indonesia. His teammates then ran to celebrate in front of Thailand's technical area, as a response to the opponent doing the same to them in the 2-2 equalizer late in the second half. The brawl broke out from there.

Surmadji jumped in to intervene. When he was trying to pull an Indonesian assistant out, a Thai member rushed to shove and fell on the field. The leader of the Indonesian delegation had to lie on his head to avoid being stepped on by the crowd during the fighting. He was then unable to walk on his own, so he had to ask someone to help him back to his seat. Surmadji suffered a wound on his lip, which caused bleeding.

When asked if Thailand had apologized after the incident, Surmadji said he was not clear. "Instead, I apologize to Thailand," Surmadji said, admitting that he had learned his lesson.

Kombes Pol Surmadji was born in 1972 and is a senior officer of the Indonesian police force. In 2016, he joined football, was appointed as the team leader of Bhayangkara FC. In 2019, he started to lead the Indonesian U22 team and opened with the Southeast Asian U22 championship.

In this match, the referee drew a total of five red cards for Thailand and two for Indonesia, in addition to 12 yellow cards for both teams. The match ended with a score of 5-2 in favor of Indonesia, helping them win the first SEA Games gold medal since 1991.

After the match, coach Indra Sjafri confirmed that Thailand created the conflict. However, the two sides actively reconciled and apologized to each other.

Thailand team leader Yuttana Yimkarun reminded the players to be restrained. He told Matichon newspaper: "The incident is not serious. This is a test of the players' ability to keep calm. I always emphasize to them that they need to know how to control their emotions. Thailand will come back after the defeat. This is to prepare for the final round of U23 Southeast Asia".

The vice president of the Thai Football Federation also expressed support for coach Issara Sritaro. He said that Thailand did not lose to any opponent in the SEA Games, even though it lost the gold medal. "Hopefully coach Sritaro will continue to hold the team in the Southeast Asian U23 tournament that Thailand will host in September. We continue to ask for cooperation from the clubs. That tournament coincides with FIFA Day, so the team there will be better personnel," he said.